The New York board of tourism at work

[JanetElaine]

Apparently all the employees with half a brain had the day off that day.

Two British teen girls on vacation in NYC with their mother end up in an orphanage after their mom is hospitalized with pneumonia. That's not the bad part. The bad part is the treatment they got there.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/7206570.stm

Now I'm not just mad for these girls. But I am wondering how a society who treats children like this (more than likely standard procedure for US minors who end up there for whichever reason) expects these children to grow up like caring adults? I'm not even adding the part 'and to make a difference'. Seems like children ending up there would be more than lucky if they just 'make it'.

Ever noticed how much of a difference it makes on your day when someone smiles at you? Then why are people, who are supposed to work with the most fragile of our citizens, allowed to degrade and dehumanize?

 

[CarpeDiem]

Why wasn't the UK embassy contacted when she became ill?

Why didn't the Mom phone someone from home that she was ill and needed help for the girls?

How did she end up in a hospital in Harlem?

So many questions.

 

[Paladin]

Didn't they have a hotel room? Why didn't the hospital just send for a cab to send them there? And how the heck did they end up in Harlem?

I wonder if something is being left out.

 

[JanetElaine]

Of course something is being left out, Paladin. It is only one side of the story....

What about the real point I was trying to make though, why are kids being treated like that? Tourist or not - or do people think it's okay to subject vulnerable children off of New York's streets to harsh practices like this? Or is it alright because "they're losers anyway"? Where else does this happen? Are all children's protective services like this? Why do we allow this to go on? Yanno?

 

[panglossian]

Unfortunately, now that they are "in the system", the mother will probably have to retain an attorney at her own expense because she is being investigated. I hope that the Embassy will get involved now.

 

[CarpeDiem]

I wonder if something is being left out.

I think a lot is being left out.

Interesting the Mom didn't complain until the investigation was launched.

 

[CyberLaw]

May I add my comment. I don't think I am going to post on the circumstances of how the children ended up in care. I do not have the facts.

But I have no doubt, that the children were treated in the manner that is reported in the news. The treatment of the children is the subject matter, not how they ended up in care. I have no doubt that the way the children were treated is SOP for the State.

Remember children who are wards of the state are deemed throw a way, no one to advocate on their behalf, no parents to answer to, and the state can treat the "wards" any way they "deem" fit or unfit.

Children in Foster care in my city are "visited" every two weeks. The foster parents are interviewed, the premises inspected, the children interviewed.